Ex-TCU quarterback says his former team needs one more rose

Former TCU and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton says his torn thumb has healed and he can start throwing again. Frank VictoresAP

Former TCU and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton says his torn thumb has healed and he can start throwing again. Frank VictoresAP

Andy Dalton says the thumb is good, that the X-rays are clean and that his doctor gave him the go-ahead to resume throwing this week.

Dalton suffered a torn right thumb in a loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 13. It effectively ended the best season of his career. He said even had the Bengals defeated the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card game he would likely not have been OK to play, but he would have tried regardless in the AFC Divisional round.

The only real bad news from the former TCU and current starting quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals is that he is moving from Fort Worth to Dallas.

“This does not mean we don’t love Fort Worth,” Dalton assured me over the weekend in a phone interview.

Not long thereafter the school was invited to join the Big 12 conference.

In four years of Big 12 play, the team is 34-17. In the last two years, TCU is 23-3 with wins in the Peach Bowl and Alamo Bowl.

The only thing missing is an invitation to the College Football Playoff.

“I think they are going to have to go undefeated to get that recognition every year,” Dalton said. “If they go undefeated, they will get to the playoffs. If they lose just one game it’s going to be tough for them to get in because the bigger schools have that perception. They need one more undefeated season to really solidify them.”